Dallas at Houston

Dallas has won eight of the past nine meetings, including 121-115 on Nov. 28 when Luka Doncic poured in 41 points for the Mavericks. Houston has lost three in a row and didn't cover the spread in any of them, including a 134-127 home loss to Atlanta on Wednesday as the Hawks shot 52 percent from the field. The Rockets have allowed an average of 132.3 points their past three games as the defense has broken down. Dallas is 9-5 straight up and ATS on the road and it has won five of eight although the Mavericks have dropped their past two games against Denver and the red-hot Los Angeles Clippers. Dallas is getting plenty of points due to Doncic being out with a quadriceps issue. Houston is 18-41-1 ATS its past 60 games after allowing more than 125 points its previous game and 2-5-1 ATS after scoring more than 125. Dallas can take advantage of the Rockets' leaky defense. Take the points with the Mavericks.